An at-home ankle strengthening program. Ankle mobility exercises. For rehabilitation after sprains and fractures

The arsenal of modern traumatology contains a sufficient number of methods that allow for the correction of structural and functional disorders of the ankle. Their choice is determined by the type and degree of injury, as well as the need to obtain a pronounced and lasting effect in a short period of time. Most often used:

Drug treatment.
Immobilization.
Physiotherapy.
Massage and exercise therapy.
Surgical treatment.

Only a doctor will tell you which method is right for a particular person after a comprehensive examination.

Provide rest to the ankle - secure it with a bandage or an improvised splint.
Apply cold.
Give your leg an elevated position.
If necessary, take painkillers in tablets.

This will be enough to reduce symptoms until medical attention is provided. Everyone should know these rules, because no one can exclude ankle injuries in the future.

Physiotherapy

Exercise therapy is of great importance in the treatment of ankle injuries. Its positive effect on the osteoarticular apparatus is undeniable, because only through movements can the normal function of all joint structures be restored.

The basis for the treatment of many injuries is early activation of motor function. The time to begin exercise is determined by the type of injury sustained and previous treatments.

If a bruise or sprain occurs, then gymnastics should be done after the acute phenomena have been eliminated.

In cases of surgical treatment of fractures or immobilization, development of the ankle joint begins somewhat later. However, you need to perform exercises for other joints and muscles, which will indirectly improve blood circulation in the affected area.

At various stages of treatment, special exercise therapy complexes for the ankle are used. Classes are carried out gradually; sudden movements should not be allowed.

Immobilization period

By performing exercise therapy during the period of immobilization, normal blood circulation in the affected areas is ensured, muscle tone is maintained, and the function of healthy parts of the limb is preserved. Exercises also help prevent the development of contractures, osteoporosis and atrophic changes in soft tissues. During this period, you can perform movements in a lying position:

In all unaffected joints: knee and hip on both sides, as well as in the ankle of the healthy leg.
In the toes of the diseased limb - flexion, extension, extension.
Raise and lower the injured leg.
Rotational movements of the limbs in and out.
Abduct and adduct the straight limb.
Raise the affected limb with outward and inward rotation.
Tension of the muscles of the sore leg in isometric mode.

Walking with support on an immobilized limb is of great importance. This is carried out only after the permission of the attending physician, gradually increasing the duration - from several minutes to an hour per day.

You should not attempt to stand on your affected leg on your own without medical advice - this may disrupt the healing of the fracture.

Period after immobilization

The exercises that can be performed after removing the plaster cast are significantly expanded in scope. They are designed to restore the function of the limb, as well as prevent the development of flat feet, when it is necessary to strengthen the muscles of the foot. In addition to those described earlier, the following exercise therapy exercises are performed in a sitting position:

Flexion and extension of the foot.
Rocking movements of the foot to relax the muscles.
Place your feet on your toes, pushing your heels out and vice versa.
Walk while sitting, rolling your foot from heel to toe.
Rotational movements of the foot.
With your foot on the stick, roll it in the center, with the outer and outer edges of your foot.
Stretch forward with the toe of your straight leg.
Leaning on the toe, make springing movements with the heel.
Grab a small object with your toes and hold for a few seconds.

During this period, it is necessary to bandage the ankle with an elastic bandage without getting out of bed, and when performing gymnastics it is removed.

Classes are carried out carefully so as not to provoke pain. Gymnastics are performed 2-3 times daily.

Recovery period

In order to reliably strengthen the muscles and ligaments of the affected ankle, as well as completely restore its function, it is necessary to continue exercise therapy for a month after the injury. During this period, the healing of the fracture ends, so you can apply more force to the ankle and increase the duration of the gymnastics. The following exercises are recommended, performed with support on a gymnastic wall or the back of a chair:

Rolling from toes to heels and back.
Transfer body weight from one limb to another.
Squat on your entire foot and toes.
Walk on toes, heels, the outside of the foot, with side steps.
Lunges forward with the affected limb.
Standing on the stairs on your toes, perform springing movements, lowering your heels as much as possible.

All elements of therapeutic exercises for ankle joint injuries must be performed in strict accordance with medical recommendations - only a specialist will indicate the required range of movements, their frequency and duration.

First, the classes are conducted under the supervision of an instructor, and then, after training, the patient can perform them at home. A properly selected set of physical therapy will become the basis for recovery from ankle injuries.

Weakness of the ankle ligaments is indicated by signs such as instability of the leg, especially in heels, frequent sprains and dislocations, pain in the thumb and middle toe even after minimal load. Usually the patient tries to solve an existing problem at home by applying pain-relieving ointments. The discomfort goes away, the injured tissues heal, but the problem itself does not go away, and the injuries recur. In order for recovery after damage to be complete, you need to know how to strengthen it. We offer several simple ways to strengthen your ankle.

Stretching as a variant of micro-gymnastics

With age, the ligaments of the ankle joint lose their elasticity in the absence of adequate load on the legs. Therefore, any inaccurate movement of the leg can lead to painful consequences and even pain in the foot area after normal exercise.

The easiest way to restore the elasticity of the ankle ligaments is to carry out regular micro-gymnastics aimed at stretching.

You can perform stretching exercises in any position, both lying down, sitting, and hanging, standing. For such gymnastics you do not need to wear a uniform or go to the gym. Everyone can take 10–15 minutes to devote attention to the rehabilitation of joint mobility.

Such a complex may include several exercises to choose from.

Curling your toes

You can start doing such movements without getting out of bed in the morning. Squeeze your toes as if you were trying to grab something. Immediately straighten your fingers, trying to spread them out and point them towards you. Perform repetitions at a fast pace.

You will immediately feel how the tendons on the sole and ligaments on the ankle work. Determine how many times you repeat this exercise based on how you feel. It will be enough to do up to 20 repetitions.

If the ligaments in the ankle joint are stiff, cramps may occur. Therefore, you need to control the voltage. During gymnastics, do not lift your heels off the surface and do not strain your knees.

Rotation of feet

Rotational movements of the ankle help not only improve the elasticity of the ligamentous apparatus, but also work the joint itself, ensuring the flow of blood and nutrients to it and increasing the volume of joint lubrication.

Start rotating your feet to the right first. After repeating up to 10 times, do the same number of times in the opposite direction. Now try to rotate your feet in different directions at the same time, pointing them outward and then inward.

Such simple movements will help both with joint diseases and varicose veins. After them, fatigue and swelling go away. Therefore, it would be appropriate to repeat the rotations in the evening after a hard day of work.

Ankle flexion/extension

For a good stretch of the ankle ligaments, include several exercises for flexion movements in your home gymnastics:

point the toes on your feet away from you, then pull them towards you;
repeat the exercises, pointing the toes of one foot towards you, the other - away from you, change the direction;
leaning on your heels, tilt your feet to the right, return to the starting position and repeat tilting to the left, try to touch the mat with the edge of the sole;
spread your feet in different directions, bring them together.

Repeat each action up to 10 – 15 times. This complex can be performed in a sitting or lying position.

Walking simulation

Another great exercise that you can do even at your workplace. To do this, remove your high-heeled shoes and restore the natural position of your feet.

Place your feet side by side and begin to lift your feet alternately. In this case, the fingers remain firmly pressed to the floor. Try to pull your heels up as much as possible. Repeat the lifts as long as you have the patience, but 30 times will be enough.

Video

Video - Exercises to strengthen the ankle

Raises on toes/heels

Restoring the elasticity of the ankle ligaments necessarily includes raising your heels and toes.

Start with calf raises. Lift your heels off the floor and stretch upward as much as possible. At the same time, tension in the calf muscles should be felt. At the top point, freeze for 10 counts and lower your entire foot. Repeat the lifts up to 30 times.

Now we begin to rise on our heels, for which we tear our socks off the surface. It is difficult to maintain balance in this position. Therefore, hold your hand on a wall or chair. You can complement the heel raises with upward swings of your arms - this will help maintain your balance.

If these lifts are difficult or painful, start with alternating lifts.

You can make the exercise more difficult. To do this, start doing rolls: first we rise on our toes, and after returning to the starting position we immediately rise on our heels.

An interesting interpretation of the exercise is an option using a hill. A step or thick book will do. We stand on the edge on our toes. On the first count, pull your heels up. After stopping, we immediately lower it to the floor. This moment is the most important, since without training it is problematic to perform it correctly. Therefore, do not try to repeat the action as much as possible, but do it as much as you can, but correctly.

This complex is used at the initial stage of recovery from injury. It is also interesting because it can be used in the treatment and prevention of varicose veins.

Additional exercises with objects

If you're looking for more challenging ways to strengthen your ankle after an injury, try doing exercises with different objects. Remember that such loads are allowed in the later stages of recovery from an ankle injury.

Collecting Items

You will need small objects that you can grab with your toes. These could be buttons or pebbles, small toys or balls. We also need a container where we will collect these items.

We scatter the equipment on the floor. We sit on a chair and try to grab objects with the toes of one foot, then the second or both at once, and transfer them to the prepared container.

You can increase the load if you perform the movements while standing on one leg. At the same time, not only the ligamentous, but also the vestibular apparatus is trained.

Ball exercises

For training you will need a regular ball. It’s good if there are several of them and of different sizes.

The ball can be:

roll with the sole of one foot;
grab with both feet at the same time and lift;
move from place to place with your feet.

If possible, kick the ball with your feet, play football, and kick it into the goal. Such movements perfectly train the muscles of the lower leg and ankle tendons. Just take precautions to avoid re-injuring your leg.

Exercises with a jump rope

Jumping rope perfectly strengthens the ankle joint. You can jump on your toes or
landing on your entire foot. If you do not bend your knees, the ankle will receive maximum load.

Such training can only be carried out in sports shoes and by choosing the correct length of the rope. Keep in mind that people with severe obesity, problems with the spine and knees are strictly prohibited from jumping.

How much time to devote to such jumps is determined by the condition of the joints, as well as the pulse. Do not allow the number of heart beats to exceed 120 during exercise.

Workouts with an elastic band

An ordinary elastic bandage from the pharmacy is a great device to increase the load on the ankle during training.

Using this device you can perform the following exercises:

Place your feet together and wrap them with a bandage. Without lifting your heels, try to stretch the bandage by spreading your toes to the sides.
Cross your legs and place the backs of your feet together. Wrap them with a bandage again and spread your socks apart.
Make a loop out of the bandage by looping it around the table leg. Place one leg into it and stretch the bandage in different directions: back, to the sides. Switch legs and repeat the movements.
Place the loop behind the chair leg. Sitting on a chair, place both legs in the loop. Stretch the bandage by moving your limbs forward. Do the exercise with one leg, then the other.

In addition to such simple devices, you can also use professional ones. For example, exercise on a steppe, exercise bike, stepper.

Foot massage

Some patients think that complete ankle restoration is only possible in a rehabilitation center or sanatorium, where specialists know exactly how to treat joint diseases.

But it turns out that the simplest method of rehabilitation is available to everyone. And this does not require a professional or specific approach. This is a complete foot massage. Moreover, the best massage is regular barefoot walking.

The main thing is to choose the right surface on which to walk. Definitely, linoleum or tiles are not suitable for such therapy. But rougher and uneven coatings will be ideal.

For training, you can use surfaces like:

straw or grass mats;
bamboo mats;
cork slabs;
sand;
small pebbles;
thick grass;
log paths.

Moreover, you can find such materials not only at the dacha, but even in the apartment. In addition, special massage mats with different surfaces are sold, which are convenient to use both at home and while traveling.

Think about how much time you spend in front of the TV. Try to devote at least half of this time to walking barefoot and within a couple of weeks you will feel an improvement in the condition of your ankle.

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One of the most important measures to prevent re-injury of the ankle joint is usually a set of measures to strengthen it with correctly distributed loads on all elements of the corresponding localization, including ligaments, tendons and bones. How to strengthen ankle ligaments? Which procedures are most effective? You will read about this and much more in our article.

Why strengthen your ankle?

The ankle joint is one of the most important elements of the musculoskeletal system in the context of the performance and functional state of the lower extremities. It performs a number of important functions, including motor and support functions.

Quite often, after receiving any ankle injury, the problem can have long-term consequences and manifest itself as repeated damage to the corresponding joint. A certain contribution to this process is made by:

Insufficient quality treatment or lack thereof;
The rehabilitation period is too short;
Strong and regular physical non-linear loads in professional sports, everyday activities, at work;
Poor unbalanced diet and so on.

In this case, one of the factors is the lack of necessary preventive measures in the form of strengthening the ankle. In some situations, it is a key link on the path to re-injury and potentially increases the risk of developing dystrophic and degenerative processes in the corresponding joint.

Exercises to strengthen ankle ligaments

Therapeutic exercise within the framework of adapted loads on the ankle is relevant not only during the patient’s rehabilitation period after surgery and injury, but is also suitable for healthy people who have recently been discharged from a medical institution.

What exercises are most relevant for healthy people and people who have only recently suffered an injury, as well as those who are at the stage of active rehabilitation? The main methods and methods are presented below.

It should be understood that they can be used only after preliminary consultation with a specialized specialist in the form of a traumatologist, orthopedist, rheumatologist, with mandatory consideration of the individual characteristics of the body and other factors.

The following will help strengthen the ankle joint and ligaments:

Run. No burden on your heart rate. Approximately from 30 minutes to 1 hour, but with mandatory monitoring of potential pain;
Squats. For healthy men, full squats are allowed, at least 50-70 times;
Walking. At least 1 hour daily;
Swimming. Additional active activities several times a week for 1.5 hours;
Working with simulators. Exercise bikes are used, as well as systems with weights in different projections and active work with the lower extremities.

Lightweight exercise therapy for the rehabilitation period:

Walking with emphasis. The main support is placed on the leg with the damaged ankle, while the foot is placed completely on a horizontal surface. The duration of the procedure is from 5 to 20 minutes, no more than 3 times during the day;
Support loads. The patient places emphasis on the problematic leg with a load that is identical to the mass of the limb. In this case, the main support is placed on the heel, and not the toe, and the load itself should not cause pain in the joint. Several approaches of 10 minutes during complex exercise therapy procedures no more than 3 times a day;
Extension and flexion movements. First the socks pull towards themselves, and then away from themselves. No more than 20-25 times every few hours during the day;
Muscle tension. Tension and linear relaxation of all muscles of the injured limb are carried out in a random order. 5-10 seconds for 15-20 approaches about 3 times a day.

How to strengthen your ankle after injury

The main measures to strengthen the ankle immediately after an injury are necessarily developed and monitored by specialized specialists in the form of a traumatologist, orthopedist, rheumatologist or surgeon.

At the same time, the activities are not limited to classical exercises within the framework of exercise therapy. Regardless of the circumstances, the patient also receives physiotherapy and massage. The following exercises will help strengthen the muscles and ligaments of the ankle (foot)::

Stretching the feet. Both on oneself and from oneself from the starting position on the floor while sitting;
Rolling. Starting position - sitting on the floor, lower limbs in front of you. The knees open to the sides, and the feet are connected to each other. While maintaining the current position, you need to lean your upper limbs on the floor and tilt your body forward, lifting your pelvis and holding it at the peak for about 5 seconds, after which you can relax. A total of 12 times in one approach is enough;
Working with a towel. Place a medium-sized towel on a horizontal surface and stand on its near edge. Without lifting your heels, use your lower extremities to scoop the material underneath you, and then lay it back out. Carry out the event 10 times in 2 approaches;
Circular movements. From a sitting position, circular movements of the feet are carried out both inward and outward. In this case, you should accordingly try to touch the horizontal surface of the thumbs and the outer side of the little finger. A total of 10 repetitions in three sets is enough.

Post-rehabilitation period

After the patient is discharged from the hospital or deregistered from the outpatient clinic, the person must continue to moderately load the ankle in particular and the lower extremities in general, with mandatory compliance with all safety standards and regulations, especially if this concerns professional sports, everyday activities, as well as work related with increased physical activity.

In addition, during the post-rehabilitation period, it is recommended to saturate your diet with healthy foods that strengthen bones, ligaments and tendons, and regularly take vitamin and mineral complexes.

You also need to undergo periodic preventive examinations with a traumatologist, especially if even minor pathological symptoms of ankle problems appear.

Gymnastics according to Bubnovsky

One of the fairly common methods of the late rehabilitation period in the treatment of various injuries and damage to the ankle joint is the Bubnovsky exercise system.

Its basic principles are gentle but dynamic loads on the lower limb with the gradual introduction of weights and the transition to full-fledged physical activity. The most typical events:

Rotation of the feet in any direction, both sitting and standing;
Springing on the steps of the stairs;
Leg press using;
Climbing and lowering stairs or a gymnastic wall;
Bending the leg at the knee joint from a dynamic position.

How to strengthen a child's ankle joint

In a child during the period of active growth of his body, various pathologies of the ankle joint are quite often diagnosed, most often associated with twisting, dislocations, direct damage to the corresponding structure and other types of acute injuries.

In more rare cases, we are talking about chronic dystrophic degenerative processes, mainly associated with the presence of a number of predisposing circumstances in the form of systemic diseases of the musculoskeletal system. An important part of preventing the potential risk of injury to a child's ankle is strengthening it. Basic activities may include:

Regular moderate physical activity. The modern child moves quite little and practically does not play sports. Accordingly, with a sharp increase in the intensity of physical activity, the ankle is at natural risk of injury. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to organize regular exercises for the child, which include running, active walking, squats, leg swings and other activities that activate the work of the lower extremities;
Proper nutrition. The child’s nutrition should be rational, balanced and at the same time quite varied, including the necessary range of useful minerals, trace elements, vitamins and other substances necessary for the normal development of all structures of the ankle joint;
Timely consultation with a doctor. Regular preventive examinations tenfold reduce the potential for the development of various chronic diseases, which in turn provoke problems with the ankle joint in relation to pathologies of the musculoskeletal system.

Strengthening the ligaments and muscles of the foot in older people

One of the main risk groups for various ankle injuries includes people over 50 years of age. It is during this period of life that soft structures, muscles, ligaments, tendons lose their plasticity, flexibility and strength.

In parallel with this, the prerequisites are created for the development of a number of chronic diseases of the musculoskeletal system, from osteoporosis to arthrosis.

How to strengthen the ankle joint in older people? First of all, it is necessary to regularly take care of your own health, strictly following all the instructions and prescriptions of a traumatologist, rheumatologist, orthopedist, surgeon and other specialized specialists monitoring the health status of an elderly patient.

In addition, you should not forget about a balanced diet, taking vitamin and mineral complexes, giving up bad habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol, as well as performing gentle therapeutic exercises.

The latter can be passive or moderately active, should not cause pain and be formed in strictly dosed doses, no more than 15 minutes a day, taking into account the individual characteristics of the human body.

Arthrosis is a serious disease characterized by the development of a destructive process in the cartilage tissue of the joint. Quite often, the disease affects the ankle area, and in the absence of adequate therapy, it can cause complete disappearance of cartilage and immobilization of the joint.

It is important to promptly seek help from a doctor who will prescribe comprehensive treatment. In addition to the use of medications, therapeutic exercises for arthrosis of the ankle joint are particularly effective.

Essence and causes of the disease

With arthrosis of the ankle joint, the cartilage tissue becomes thinner; in particularly severe cases, it is completely worn out. Along with the progression of the disease, intense pain appears, due to which the patient consciously or due to the inability to move the leg normally limits his movement. The result of this is even greater deformation of the joint.

Arthrosis most often affects older people, but the disease is often diagnosed in young people. The development of pathology can occur for various reasons:

changes caused by the patient's age;
genetic predisposition;
damage;
metabolic disorder;
hypothermia;
impaired blood circulation;
diabetes;
obesity.

Arthrosis brings a lot of discomfort. Most often, the patient is bothered by pain, which at first is barely noticeable and occurs only when walking and running. As the disease progresses to a more severe stage, the pain intensifies and begins to appear even in a calm state. There is a feeling of stiffness, and over time - deformation of the position of the foot. All this interferes with physical activity, normal movement and significantly worsens the patient’s quality of life.

Diagnosis and treatment of the disease

During your visit to the doctor, the orthopedist (or surgeon) will take a medical history and examine the presence of hereditary diseases and injuries suffered in childhood. A significant role during diagnosis is played by the patient’s complaints and a description of the nature of the pain and its duration.

To confirm the diagnosis, the doctor will order an x-ray; sometimes an MRI, ultrasound, or blood test is required, which will help identify the presence of an inflammatory process.

After carefully studying the research results, the specialist will prescribe treatment, in which medication plays a major role.

However, due to the specifics of the disease, therapy must be comprehensive: an exclusively medicinal approach to treatment may not have a positive effect unless the patient changes his diet and begins to engage in therapeutic exercises.

Physiotherapy

Despite the fact that movements with arthrosis cause difficulties, exercise therapy is necessary. Gymnastics helps enhance the positive effects of therapeutic methods. The advantage is that you can perform special exercises at home on your own, after consulting with your doctor first.

Rules for performing exercise therapy

Before you start practicing physical therapy, you need to learn the following rules:

You cannot do gymnastics when the disease is in the acute stage, especially if the inflammatory process has begun with arthrosis and swelling of the ankle has appeared. You can start doing exercises after finishing the course of taking anti-inflammatory drugs.
Women during menstruation, patients with elevated body temperature, or during the rehabilitation period after surgery should avoid exercising.
You should not immediately start doing complex exercises; first you should warm up your muscles. First you need to start with simple exercises, gradually moving on to more complex ones.
When choosing the intensity of the load, you need to take into account the stage of development of the ankle disease.
Therapeutic exercises for arthrosis of the ankle joint should be regular.
During exercise, you need to monitor your well-being. If it worsens or increases in pain, you should stop exercising.
After finishing physical education, you should rest for a while - your pulse should normalize.

Important! A set of exercises should be selected individually for each person, taking into account the characteristics of the disease, level of endurance and well-being.

Objectives of exercise therapy at various stages of arthrosis

Physical therapy at different stages of arthrosis should have different tasks. Thus, during an exacerbation, physical activity cannot be experienced, so the patient must remain in a calm state for 3–4 days.

After this period, you can begin to perform exercise therapy exercises, which should meet the following tasks:

improve blood flow;
relieve muscle spasms;
normalize the functioning of the body.

At the stage of remission, gymnastics has the following tasks:

restoration of joint mobility;
improvement of well-being;
increasing the body's endurance;
improving joint stability.

Ankle exercises

Most often, doctors advise performing the following exercises for arthrosis of the ankle joint:

Using your hands, you need to move the ankle in the ankle area. It is necessary to slowly tilt the foot from one side to the other. Sudden movements should be avoided; a person should not experience discomfort.
You should rotate your ankle joint against the clock and vice versa.
In a sitting position, you need to cross your legs at the ankle area and rise on your toes, and then lower your foot to the floor.
Sitting on a chair, you need to move your toes, trying to wrinkle an imaginary fabric.
While sitting, you should curl your toes toward the inside of your foot.
Feet are on the floor, heels together, toes apart. You should rise up smoothly and then lower down. The exercise is performed in a sitting position.
You need to walk on a pyramidal step.
Place your feet on a low bottle or stick, and then roll back and forth.
The “bicycle” exercise is performed with the feet.
While standing, you need to perform shallow squats. Care must be taken to ensure that your feet do not leave the floor.
A small step similar to the height of the foot is required. The toes should be on the step, the heel should be on the floor, the foot should be lowered and raised.
Standing against the wall, you should fix your legs (feet should be together). You need to smoothly approach the wall with your body and then return to the starting position.
When sitting down, your feet should be raised up and down.
Lie on your back, bend your knees. Leaning your heels slightly on the floor, you should bend and straighten your legs.
Sitting on a low chair, you need to imitate the process of walking in a sitting position, while you need to lift your toes and heels in turn.
You should lie on your back, legs straight. We pull our socks towards ourselves, then away from ourselves.
The feet are placed together, the big toes are moved away from each other as far as possible, then brought closer.

Important! Exercises performed in water are especially beneficial for the ankle joint: this way the leg is not overloaded when performing gymnastics.

Exercise therapy is considered effective if the patient’s well-being begins to improve, there is no pain, and joint mobility increases.

Treatment of arthrosis with gymnastics, in comparison with other therapeutic methods, does not require material costs. To forget about problems with the ankle joint forever, all you need is willpower and a little free time.

A physically active body must ensure that every active joint is in stable balance to achieve maximum activity. Ligaments connect bones to each other and provide much of the joint's stability. Muscles are connected to bones by tendons, allowing them to move across joints.

When an athlete performs any movement - be it running or jumping - the ankle and surrounding muscles are subjected to extreme stress. If the ankle musculature is strong, the athlete can withstand more force before becoming injured. In addition to reducing ankle injuries, strengthening your lower leg muscles will help prevent chronic conditions such as Achilles tendonitis. Strong ankles can improve balance as well as strengthen your legs.

How do exercises help?

There are many ways you can strengthen your ankles, depending on your comfort level and what equipment you have to use. The exercises do not require much effort or additional funds; they can be performed while sitting, while working, or simply watching TV.

You can also strengthen your ankles while standing by adding weights for a more challenging task. Balance work can also strengthen your ankles, while stretching will reduce the risk of injury and improve flexibility.

Basic Rules

For best results, perform the exercises daily.
If you feel pain, stop exercising immediately.
Consult your physician before starting any exercise.
Be careful and vigilant if you exercise while injured. Rise slowly to your feet and lower yourself slowly to avoid injuring yourself further.
Strengthen your ankles gradually. Once you are able to maintain your balance and support your weight, you can begin to do a small range of motion of your lower leg and balance on one leg with your back against a wall. Slowly work through the exercises below.

Gymnastics for the ankle

Complex 1. Balancing practice:

Stand on one leg. Raise your left leg, bending it at the knee, and stand on your right leg. Hold this position for as long as you can and then switch legs. To add to the challenge, close your eyes. This makes balancing more difficult and forces you to work more carefully with the muscles around your ankles and lower legs to stay upright.
Squat on a wobble board. Stand on a wobble board—or pad if you don't have a wobble board—with your feet slightly closer together than shoulder-width apart. Squat down slowly, controlling the speed of the squat. Then slowly return to a standing position. Perform about 10 squats per set. Repeat up to three sets, depending on ankle strength.
Bending and Reaching. Stand on your right leg and slowly walk to the floor, bringing your left leg up and down behind you, making sure to bend at the hips. You can increase the difficulty of the exercise by placing objects at the front and sides. When bending forward, touch each one before returning to the upright position.

Complex 2. Ankle stretching:

Point your toes. Lying on your back, relax your arms and stretch your legs evenly. Angle your toes away from your face. You will feel a stretch in your shin, but stop if you feel severe pain.
Curl your toes. Lie on your back, relaxing your arms and stretching your legs evenly. Bend both legs while trying to point your toes towards your face. You can repeat this exercise as many times as possible, but make sure you don't overextend your shins.
Stretch your shin. Place both hands on the wall at shoulder height and then support the ball with your right foot to the wall. Walk up to the wall until you feel a stretch in your calf. Repeat the exercise with the ball for your left leg.

Set of exercises

Set 1. Exercises while sitting:

Turns. While sitting on a chair, slide a jump rope or rope under one leg. Pull the rope to the left side so that the ankle is extended to the left. Press against the force of the rope and rotate your ankle slightly to the right. Then pull the right side in the same way. Can be repeated several times for each leg.
Repeat alphabet range of motion. Using your thumb as a writing instrument and moving your foot from the ankle, follow the shape of the letters of the alphabet. Cross your right leg over your left and repeat the “writing” with your right leg.
Finger pressure. Sit on a chair with your back straight. Keeping your heels on the floor, touch your toes up and down. You can alternate legs with each press. Aim for a minute of continuous, steady pressure on the ankle, increasing the time and speed of "writing" each time you do the exercise.
Scrolling. Cross your right leg over your left, placing your right thigh over your left. Slowly rotate your right shin clockwise in large circles. Then rotate the same shin again, this time counterclockwise. Repeat for the left shin.
Use resistive range. Place a rubber band around a table leg or other fixed surface. Stretch the other end around your leg. Point your leg down and slowly lift it up. Repeat 10 times. Then try moving your leg from side to side 10 times.
Ankle balancing. Sit on a chair with your leg straight out in front of you. Balance the bag or towel on the top of your leg. Slowly lower your legs down. Then lift the object back up as well.

Complex 2. Exercises while standing:

Try to get up. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Lift your heels off the ground and then slowly lower them back. For greater stability and more challenging work, keep your hands free during the exercise. Don't use anything too heavy, especially if you're just starting to strengthen.
Squat on your toes. Stand straight with your feet flat on the ground. Stand up on your toes. Continue doing squats while standing on your toes. When you first begin this exercise, use a wall or chair for support. Later you can do it without a wall.
Use your body weight. Standing on the edge of a step or large book, slowly lower your body so that your toes remain on the step and your heels touch the ground. Raise your body back and hold the pose for a few seconds before lowering back down. Your heels may touch the ground depending on the height of your step, but be sure to control the lowering of your body and avoid hitting your heels as you lower.